Renovating is a bit like that old lady who swallowed a fly, and then a spider, then a bird - until she finally dies after trying to swallow a horse. You start with one thing, but then that one thing turns into another, and that expands, and then there is a problem and well, finally you die.
My plan today was to get the doors off the hinges and clean them up ready to put on some paint, but they are in very bad condition and need a lot of work. The lock mechanism is missing on two of the four doors, the handles are missing on three, and there is a lot of breakage, layered paint, and cracks. That is "fine" I can do it, but the clean-up turned into a full sand and while my wife said that we can leave them without handles for now, I decided to go and buy new locking mechanisms for the doors, and see if I can get them to fit in the gaping hole that has been left by the last one, or perhaps the last several. The doors are likely the originals from 60+ years ago.
The previous owners were here for over twenty years and while not very handy, the man considered himself a bit of an artist who painted random things in random places. There are birds and spiderwebs, cars and skulls and each of these doors had their own little stencils of random crap. None of it was good. I will be glad when they are gone.
But after sanding most of it down, I decided that before going any further, I would attempt to clean up the years of wear and tear o n the doors, with some furniture filler. This means that a day project will turn into a multiday project, pushing back my imaginary timeline further. This because the filler takes time to dry and I will have to re-sand all the doors again and perhaps refill some of the larger gaps, as the filler will shrink in slightly once dry.
Worth the work?
Probably not.
But at least once it is done, I will be more satisfied that it is done, rather than cutting effort corners to get a faster result. And, this is the first time I am trying to restore any kind of old door, so if it goes well, there are a couple upstairs that need some tender love and care also. basement experiments mean that it can look like Frankenstein, and be passable. In the living area, it has to look like it belongs.
Not my rules.
My wife is in the process of choosing the colour of the doors to match the floor, but I believe she is making a mistake and going too dark. Of course, I just keep my mouth shut (mostly) and will paint it on and then repaint it when she realises it is too dark, in a year or so from now. It won't be the first time. Though, let's see if I can be bothered to go through this process again.
I won't have much time to do the sanding tomorrow though, because I will drive and drop Smallsteps to friend's cottage for a few days, which is three hours away. I might have a sauna and a swim there before returning, which makes it about a seven hour round trip, plus stopping for lunch on the way. I try to be considerate of the elderly neighbours who go to bed very early, so can't sand late into the night and it has to be done outside, due to the insane amounts of dust - and me not wanting to have fine dust spread on the newly painted and sticky-ish basement floors.
So, Thursday it is!
Where's that horse to swallow.
Taraz
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